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The blast was set off by a detonator that was hooked up with electrical wire about 100 metres away. It left a crater three metres wide and nearly two metres deep.

The shrapnel inflicted a serious wound to the head of Command Sgt Major Banyai Suwanang, 49, who was rushed to a nearby hospital.

Meanwhile, in Yala's Tambon Lithon, about 150 soldiers and police thought they were closing in on Faisal Hajiismaae, the alleged bombmaker behind the Hat Yai Airport attacks two years ago  but failed to catch him.

In Pattani's Tung Yang Daeng district, gunmen critically wounded Kithipong Homprasit, 34, a clerk at the Namkham Tambon Administrative Organisation. Police said two gunmen came up from behind on a motorbike and opened fire as Kithipoing was riding his motorbike home.